


The consequences of a corrupted youth

by Artemis_Fandom_Things



Series: Hydra AU [5]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Akumatized Tim Drake, Batfam is bad at communicating, Batfam is bad at feelings, Bruce Wayne has a Bad Time, Canon-Typical Violence, Damian Wayne is a Brat, Dick Grayson Being an Idiot, Dragon!Tim Drake, Gen, Hurt Tim Drake, Lazarus Pit, Magic, Temporary Character Death, Tim Drake Has a Bad Time, Tim Drake Needs Love, Tim Drake Needs a Hug, Tim Drake is Joker Jr., Tim Drake is Lazarus, mentions of - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:47:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26202145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artemis_Fandom_Things/pseuds/Artemis_Fandom_Things
Summary: When Tim decided to stay in Paris, no one remembered to tell him about Papillion and his Akumas.Team Miraculous faces the consequences
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Tim Drake, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Damian Wayne
Series: Hydra AU [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1853158
Comments: 83
Kudos: 253





	1. Darkness

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry, but if I have to suffer so do you.

School starts the second week of September, and Parisians students walk back into their classrooms after a summer of relative peace.

On the same day, Gabriel Agreste comes back to Paris after a three months long work leave.

* * *

“Class,” Caline calls, clapping her hands together. “I understand coming back to school after a wonderful summer isn’t easy, but you’re now in your second year of lycée and our study material will be more than the last years, as well as harder.”

The students groan, clearly showing their thoughts on the matter and making Caline chuckle in amusement.

“Don’t worry, today we won’t do much, but I do need to give you your class schedule. And for the first week you'll mostly be reviewing things from last year.” A knock on the door makes Caline stop and she goes to peek outside, exchanging a few, whispered words with the person on the other side. Going back to behind her desk, Caline smiles. “Now students, today we have a new student joining our class! Come inside and introduce yourself,  _ s'il vous plaît _ .”

The door opens and in comes a boy Marinette and half of her classmates recognise. He turns to them, eyeing them all, sending a quick wave.

“ _ Bonjour _ , my name is Tim Drakanov. I moved here to Paris this summer and I’ll be staying here for a while.” Tim frowns a little. “Due to personal reasons I missed a school year, so I’m one year olde than you.”

Caline nods. “Thank you, Mr Drakonov. Now-”

“It’s Drak _ a _ nov,” Tim corrects, interrupting Caline.

Caline blinks. “Ah, yes.  _ Désolée _ . Now, if you have some questions for Mr Drakanov you can ask them, but raise your hand and wait to be called on before speaking please.”

And that’s how Tim spends most of his morning, answering questions from his new classmates.

* * *

“I can’t believe you’re in our class!” Marinette exclaims, leading Tim towards the cafeteria for lunch. “You could’ve said something!”

“I wanted it to be a surprise,” Tim admits. “And I only finalised the paperwork a few days ago. Last week I didn’t even know if I wanted to move from homeschooling to an actual school!”

“We’re glad to have you here,” Adrien says, smiling wide.

Tim smiles back. “Me too.”

* * *

Two weeks pass by, then Tim’s phone rings a few minutes past midnight, and Tim sleepily answers it, not looking at the caller ID.

“H’llo?”

“Timmy! Can you come to the Cave? There’s an emergency! We need your help!”

“...Dick,” Tim tentatively says, rubbing his eyes awake.

“Why do you sound so surprised?” Dick asks, almost in a whine. “Come to the Cave and be quick! The Joker’s out and TwoFace has been plotting something for a while, we can’t deal with both alone, so we need you to come in! We’ll move out in ten, so hurry!”

“I can’t come to the cave,” Tim sighs before Dick can shut down the call.

“And what do you mean by that, Drake?” Damian demands, sounding as uptight as Tim remembered him to be.

Tim blinks. “You could’ve told me you were in speaker-phone, Dick.”

“Sorry Tim,” Dick laughs, and Tim gets the impression he’s waving a hand up in a dismissive way. “But seriously, come to the Cave. We need you.”

“Not really,” Damian drawls. “We are better off without you, Drake, so do us a favour and don’t show up again.”

“Damian…” Dick groans, yet he doesn’t reprimand Damian for his hurtful words.

“I can’t come to the Cave,” Tim repeats after a short pause, ignoring Damian.

“Why not?” Jason suddenly asks, and Tim blinks yet again at his phone.

“Just how many people are there, Dick?” Tim almost demands, rubbing his temples.

“Me, Jason, Damian, Babs, Steph and Alfred. Bruce is already out,” Dick lists. “Come to the Cave, Timmy.”

“I can’t come to the Cave!” Tim shouts. “How many times do I have to tell you before you understand it?!”

“Why  _ not _ ?” Dick wines.

“I’m not in Gotham!” On the other side of the phone, it goes unnervingly quiet. Tim ignores it. “I haven’t been in Gotham for months, and you didn’t even  _ notice _ , Dick, and now you call me not for asking me how I’m doing, but because you need  _ help _ ? With the  _ Joker _ ? Are you fucking with me right now?”

“We’ve all dealt with the Joker before,” Dick points out.

A beat of silence, then, “ _ Joker Junior. _ ” 

* * *

Dick doesn’t understand what Tim means when he says he’s out of Gotham- had been out of Gotham for  _ months _ . Surely they would’ve noticed? But they really need the help and Tim is being difficult.

“We’ve all dealt with the Joker before,” Dick points out, walking around phone in hand. Damian trails after him and even Jason follows, while Babs and Steph stay at the Bat Computer with Alfred.

“ _ Joker Junior, _ ” Tim snarls, voice harsh and clipped, and Dick  _ stills _ . He was never really told what happened, just that Tim as Robin had a run-in with the Joker and he had to go into therapy for a full year before he was cleared.

“Joker  _ Junior _ ?” Jason asks, eyebrows raising high. “Did Joker  _ reproduce _ or something? Is there another clown bastard I need to kill?”

Tim laughs from the other side of the phone. It’s a bitter sound. “No, Jason. Bruce pass-blocked the full thing and not even Oracle has full access to it.”

“I know about Joker Junior,” Babs says, absentmindedly, eyes downcast.

“I don’t,” Steph mumbles, edging closer.

“You don’t know who JJ was,” Tim agrees. “Aside from Babs and Bruce who were there. Go into RR’s files, then Robin’s, then JJ. Password is aswium. A-S-W-I-U-M.”

Babs follow as instructed, hitting enter with a little too much force than necessary and the file opens.

The first thing they see is the picture of a young teen. Green hair, white skin, red-shot eyes and a too-wide smile painted red. The boy has Tim’s face.

“Joker Junior,” Steph reads. “Civilian ID: Tim Drake.”

“ _ What the hell is that _ ,” Jason snarls, fists shaking with rage as his eyes start glowing toxic green.

“Ask Bruce,” Tim says flatly. “I won’t help you with the Joker. I’m out of Gotham.”

“Timmy-” Dick tries.

“ _ No _ , Dick.”

Then, Damian  _ tuts _ . “Of course you’d be so pathetic to let yourself be turned into a  _ villain  _ by the Joker, Drake. Perhaps you should go back to that profession.”

“Damian!” Dick gasps. “That was uncalled for.”

“You’ll never be Robin.”

“ _ What? _ ” Damian growls.

“You’ll never be Robin,” Tim states again, matter-of-factly. “It won’t matter if you wear the Robin cape, you’ll never be a hero.”

“Tim-”

“You’re not my family,” Tim states again, his voice robotical. “Don’t call, don’t message, don’t reach out to me again.”

The call ends, and the Cave is left in a deafening silence.

* * *

Tim stares at the black screen of his phone, fiddling with a Batarang. A butterfly flutters in through the closed window, and as it touches the metal of the weapon in Tim’s hands, the outline of a butterfly mask appears over Tim’s eyes.

“ _ Lazarus, I am Papillion _ ,” a voice says in his head. Tim is too numb to care. “ _ Those you call family have scorned you, ignored you, outcast you, uncaring about your internal struggles. I can give you the powers to make them pay, to make them feel just as bad as they made you feel. All you need to do in exchange, is bring me Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous. _ ”

Tim doesn’t say yes, yet Papillion takes his silence as acceptance and his body is soon engulfed in corrupted magic, bubbling as it shifts into darkness before taking a more concrete shape.

Tim’s eyes flash toxic green, the corruption hesitating briefly before fully covering his whole body, turning him fully into an akuma.

( _ Papillion falls to his knees, vomiting bile and corruption and toxic green water. _ )

Tim opens his eyes and Lazarus takes his place.

Lazarus takes an hesitant step, going to stand in front of the full-body mirror in his bedroom, looking at his new form. His skin is charcoal grey, and he’s wearing a fitted, sleek black suit with gold embroidery at the ends of sleeves, pants and on the lapel collar of the jacket. At his neck he wears an emerald green, skinny tie, and a cloak of the same colour flutters behind him, hooked over his shoulders by a golden chain, collar turned up, with gold embroidery on all the hems.

The batarang became a pin over his chest pocket, as black as the rest of his suit. 

Lazarus opens his mouth, revealing jagged sharp teeth, and he takes notice of his toxic green eyes and his hands, where his fingers grew longer and into obsidian claws. A single streak of white runs through his windswept hair.

( _ The part of him that’s still  _ **_Tim_ ** _ , under the corruption brought by the akuma, under the many layers of facade that  _ **_make_ ** _ Tim, is shaking at how much Lazarus looks like Ra’s Al Ghul _ .)

He lifts his arms, creating a green-black orb, then the orb gets divided in three and he sends them along on their path.

Straight to Gotham.

* * *

Marinette wakes with a gasp and heavy breaths. She scrambles out of bed and goes to a shuddering Tikki. “What’s happening?!”

Tikki looks at her with sad, sad eyes. “He got akumatized. I felt it.”

Marinette’s breath hitches. “Tim…”

* * *

“Wake up kit! Emergency!” Plagg warns, tugging at Adrien’s hair until he’s fully awake.

“Plagg, what the hell! What’s wrong?”

“Your dragon’s corrupted. Papillion got to him,” Plagg says, green eyes gleaming with suppressed rage.

Adrien straightens, holding out his ring. “Plagg,  _ claws out _ .”

* * *

Ladybug and Chat Noir soar through the sky, keeping an eye out for the new akuma. For Tim.

“We didn’t even manage to tell him about Papillion,” Chat says, bitterly.

Ladybug nods, lips pressed in a thin line.

“We should’ve told him as soon as we met him,” Chat continues; Ladybug nods again.

“I called the Team,” she informs, “right as I transformed.”

“Okay. Let’s keep on looking for him, if we find nothing within ten minutes we go to the usual meeting spot.”

Ladybug nods.

* * *

“Ladybug?” a hero asks, both looking and sounding concerned.

“I’m fine, Babi,” she says. Then, “Tim got akumatized. Both Tikki and Plagg felt it happen.”

“We’ll search through Paris until we can find him,” Chat explains, taking over. “Usual pairs. Fennec and Mini Mouse. Yellow Jacket and Rùa Protecteur. Centaur and Babi. Bunnix and Medusa. I’ll stay with Ladybug. Go.”

“Let’s go find Tim,” Ladybug whispers, taking Chat’s hand in hers.

* * *

Lazarus sits on a bench at the park, looking up at the sky. His dark attire makes him blend within the night, and if it weren’t for the emerald of his clack and tie he’d be as invisible as a shadow.

A figure in red lands in front of him, followed by a black one.

“I can’t find him,” the girl says, combat boots thumping as she walks around.

“Milady, we’ll find him. We always do,” the black one says, fake ears and tail twitching.

Lazarus takes it as his cue. “I am here.”

Ladybug and Chat Noir snap towards him, eyeing the spot he’s sitting in.

( _ Tim doesn’t know who Ladybug and Chat Noir are, but a small swell of hopes lights up in his chest. _ )

Lazarus stands up. “Ladybug, Chat Noir,” he greets. “Give me your Miraculous.”

Ladybug’s face morphs from anxiety, to dread, to determination; Chat Noir mirrors hers

“Tim,” Ladybugs whispers, softly.

Lazarus shakes his head. “My name is Lazarus.” He produces another orb, twirling it between his finger-claws. “Now run.”

They run, the orb splitting and following after them.

* * *

“ _ Don’t let them rest, Lazarus _ ,” Papillion whispers in his mind. “ _ You are the best akuma I created up until now. Don’t fail me. _ ”

Lazarus stares at the Siene’s water, at his face reflected on it and the glowing outline of a butterfly mask. He nods. “Yes, Papillion.”

* * *

In Gotham, Dick falls on the ground, wet coughs racking his body.

“What the fuck-” Jason shouts, only to stop himself to dodge a glowing orb of _wrongness_ , the feeling coming from it so similar to what he remembers the Lazarus Pit being. Then he notices a second orb, going for Damian, and a third one being absorbed into Dick’s body. “The fuck are those?!”

“Plague orbs,” a voice answers, coming from the Batcomputer’s screen. Jason briefly looks at it, noticing the grey skin, the white streak and toxic green eyes. Then they speak again and Jason also sees the jagged sharp teeth. “You hurt me; now you’ll hurt as much as you did to me.”

Damian sneers, dodging the orb. “Don’t speak nonsense. We never met you.”

“Aww Damian,” they say, eyes glowing. “It’s a shame, really. Don’t you remember? The first time you met me, you stabbed me.”

Damian’s eyes widen, faltering for just a second to look at the screen. The orb catches up to him, hitting him square in the chest. “Drake,” Damian snarls, body starting to shiver and sweat, the feeling of blood in his mouth.

“That’s not Tim,” Dick protests, still hunched over. “It’s not!”

Jason stares hard at the screen, at their face. The orb hits him too, but he doesn’t care. “Tim.”

‘Tim’ smiles, condescending. “Sorry, Tim is not here. Lazarus took over.”

“If this is a prank, it’s not funny,” Jason growls, feeling his body grow weak.

“It’s no prank,” Lazarus says, shaking his head. He sighs, then, and Jason takes notice of a red blur behind Lazarus. “I must go, now. With knowing you all got hit by my orbs, I have no more reasons to be here.”

“What do those orbs do?” Dick asks, shakingly getting up.

For a second, they see Tim in Lazarus, in the way his eyes become a clear blue and his features soften into a smile. A single tear falls from his left eye, then, “they kill.”

Jason pales, followed by Dick’s cries as he falls yet again on the ground, unable to support himself and Damian… Damian glares at Lazarus, one hand over his mouth to cover the copious amount of blood falling down his chin.

Lazarus eyes flash toxic green, Tim falling back into darkness. Lazarus smiles a twisted smile. “You will die.”


	2. Despair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Miraculous vs Lazarus

Morning comes.

Team Miraculous sends a quick akuma alert to the news’ station, warning the citizens of Paris of the possible threat, telling them to be careful.

Marinette walks down the street, grateful for the weekend. Without the need to go to school, it’s easy to give her parents a random excuse to be able to stay out of the house for the day. She recalls the night that just passed, to the only two meetings she had with Lazarus.

The first time, Lazarus was calm. He simply sent a plague orb after her and Chat Noir and didn’t try to pursue them, going instead to do his own thing- going to target those who caused his akumatization, her mind tells her- and disappearing for almost a full hour.

The second time, she’d found him talking to a computer. She hadn’t been able to see who it was on the other side, but she did catch the question, and the answer.

( _ “What do those orbs do?” a shaky voice had asked _ .)

( _ “They kill,” Lazarus had answered. “You will die.” _ )

Marinette-  _ Ladybug _ \- had never felt so scared.

There had been violent akumas, but never,  _ neve _ r ones whose powers meant to outright  _ kill. _ Never akumas had  _ purposefully _ killed and. Marinette doesn’t know what to think. She’s scared of Lazarus, scared for Tim.

She fingers her earrings, burning with magic.

A shadow catches her eyes and-

“Marinette,” Lazarus greets, oh so softly, so  _ carefully _ .

Marinette takes a step back, but despite her fear she doesn’t run.

* * *

“What did you do?” Marinette asks, staring down at Paris from the spot Lazarus brought her to, at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Lazarus sighs, twirling one of his orbs between his claws. “Nothing that people didn’t see coming.”

“It’s not an answer,” Marinette points out. “Your powers hurt people.”

“You’re right,” Lazarus agrees. “But I’ve wanted to hurt them for a while. This is not the situation I expected when I started thinking about ways, but it’s not particularly unwelcome.”

Marinette stiffens, turning to Lazarus. “You don’t really mean that.”

Lazarus shrugs. “And I don’t even know what is happening. I wasn’t aware Paris had a  _ supervillain _ .”

“It’s… not advertised. The mayor did try to ask France’s government for help, but…”

“But instead you were forced to keep it quiet,” Lazarus concludes. “Do you know where I can find Ladybug and Chat Noir?”

Marinette looks down. “They’ll come.”

* * *

Bruce wakes up covered in sweat. He rolls out of his bed, placing a hand over his chest, feeling his heart racing. He quickly changes from his pj to clean clothes, then he almost runs out of his room, going straight towards the Cave.

“Master Bruce, may I know what is wrong?” Alfred asks, suddenly appearing by Bruce’s side.

“Something,” Bruce says, quickening his pace. “I have a bad feeling.”

Alfred straightens. “Let us hope it’s just you being paranoid, Master Bruce.”

Reaching the Cave, they hear silence, not even one of the Bats down there to be heard. Then, Bruce fully enters the Cave, reaches its middle, and he has to stop a scream.

On the floor are his  _ sons _ .

His sons,  _ who aren’t breathing _ .

His sons,  _ dead _ .

He rushes to Damian, who is covered in blood and bile, sprawled on the floor still in his Robin uniform. He  _ doesn’t have a pulse _ .

He checks on Dick, who lays face down on the floor, so close to Damian Bruce can imagine him trying to reach his younger brother despite whatever happened.  _ No heartbeat. _

He goes to Jason. To Jason who died once already, who  _ came back _ from the dead and who Bruce  _ can’t lose again _ \-  _ Jason is  _ **_dead._ **

Alfred falls to his knees, eyes blown wide in horror, as Bruce lets out a pained cry.

* * *

“Who are Ladybug and Chat Noir?” Lazarus asks, keeping his arms around Marinette, mindful of his claws.

“Paris’ Heroes,” she says, shifting a bit. “They appeared alongside Papillion, roughly two years ago. I’m sorry we didn’t tell you.”

Lazarus nods, feeling a little annoyed but not angry. “I understand. You probably don’t have a lot of foreigners.”

“Not ones that stay long-term,” Marinette agrees. From the corner of her eyes she spots Chat Noir hiding in an alley, Medusa with him, and she can feel the magical signatures of the other members of Team Miraculous. “Why don’t you let Ladybug free you?”

“No.”

“Tim, please-”

“It’s  _ Lazarus _ ,” Lazarus stresses, almost in a growl. “I will not be powerless again, Marinette, even if I know you are simply asking out of real concern and not maliciousness.” Then, in a smaller voice, he whispers, “I don’t want to be powerless again. I  _ can’t _ .”

“You aren’t powerless,” Marinette states. “Who told you that was  _ lying _ .”

“No one tried to correct them,” Lazarus says bitterly. “Not my brothers, not my father. Not even Alfred.”

“This isn’t the right way to get powers, though,” another voice chirps, and Chat Noir appears.

“I know that,” Lazarus says, barely even turning to look at the hero. “But it’s still a way, even if not a good one.”

“ _ It’s not a way, _ ” Chat stresses, body ready to fight, hand on his baton. “You don’t need powers to be a hero.”

Lazarus scoffs. “Don’t you think I don’t know that? I’m from Gotham. We know about heroes, and vigilantes and villains. We know about what makes or undoes them. I know.  _ I was a part of that _ .”

Chat falters. “You… what?”

“I used to be a hero,” Lazarus admits, rolling his eyes. “Then my team, my  _ family, _ chose I wasn’t needed anymore. They choose to replace me with a new model, let the new brat push me away from them. They did nothing. And I made sure none of them will be able to do anything anymore.”

“You killed them,” Marinette states, looking wide eyed at Lazarus.

“They tried to kill me first.”

* * *

The fight against Lazarus starts brutal. Papillion’s mask outline is over Lazarus’ eyes the whole time, probably instructing him on Team Miraculous’ members, and their powers.

Medusa is the first to be hit by a plague orb, her body visibly decaying under their eyes, unable to do anything to help. They lose the Snake’s Second Chance.

Yellow Jacket takes Marinette away when Lazarus is distracted, Ruà Shellter-ing them from Lazarus’s bored attacks as he forms and dispels new orbs constantly, managing to crack the shield, destroying it right as Ladybug arrives. Just in time to see their Turtle crumble on the ground.

Babi summons Uproar right before Lazarus slices him with his claws, cutting through the magic suit. Babi stumbles back, eyeing his cuts as they make the skin rot, expanding to cover his whole body.

Ladybug picks up the fallen object, a symbol she vaguely remembers seeing when looking up about foreign superheroes, the stylized shape of a bird’s head encased within a circle.

“Lucky Charm,” she calls. A dragon keychain falls into her hands, and Chat nods at her.

“Go.”

* * *

DragonBug comes back to the Eiffel Tower area destroyed and half of her team either dead or horribly injured. She grips the Uproar’s Red Robin’s symbol- she took a minute to look it up, on the internet, a feeling of  _ importance _ in the back of her mind- and looks around in search of Lazarus.

“Milady!” Chat shouts, and she jumps away right on time to dodge Lazarus’ claws.

She glances at Bunnix, who shows her ten fingers. Lazarus took Marinette at nine, so it’s been one hour.

Lazarus manifests more of his plague orbs, throwing them at her incessantly, forcing her to run and dodge and to keep moving. She can’t afford to be hit, and she only has one shot at Uproar, one shot to disrupt Lazarus’ powers.

She makes a sign and falls back, her and her team regrouping away from Lazarus.

Chat Noir, Bunnix and MiniMouse are the only ones left, alongside her.

“I need to hit Lazarus with Uproar,” Ladybug says, showing them the Red Robin’s symbol. “We only have one chance, so I’ll summon another Charm to be safe. I’ll keep Lazarus immobile, Chat you destroy the object.”

“Do we know the object?” he asks, eyebrows raised high.

Ladybug gives him a somber smile. “That’s the problem.”

* * *

MiniMouse divides herself, waiting for Ladybug’s cue and trying to get as close to Lazarus as she can. One of her copies dispels, having been spotted and destroyed by Lazarus. She winces at the newly gained memory.

Lazarus gives her his shoulders and she hurries, making as much of her copies as she can to cling to his cape, hiding herselves between the emerald fabric. She scurries up, making sure not to directly touch Lazarus’ body, trying to look for anything that could be hsii akumatization object.

The chain connecting his cape is a possibility; so is the cape itself. The suit is fully black, hiding any kind of pocket or detail that isn’t the embroidery, so MiniMouse has to take the risk, clinging to the jacket’s fabric as she searches the rest of Lazarus’ body for a clue.

“When did you get here?” Lazarus growls, spotting one of her, flinging her away with a claw as his body glows toxic green, waves of corruption oozing off of him, making MiniMouse sick down to her very  _ soul _ .

The Red Robin’s symbol from Babi’s Uproar hits Lazarus square in the chest, the toxicity suddenly inverted to be  _ pure _ .

DragonBug calls for Water Dragon right after, her body becoming the element itself and caging Lazarus in. With Lazarus frozen, MiniMouse climbs higher on his jacket, feeling the edge of metal around the chest area on the left. She squints, trying to see it better.

It’s a bat-shaped pin, she realizes. A bat-shaped pin that just has the tiniest hint of a purple hue.

She throws it to Chat Noir right as the water fades, and with a final Cataclysm it gets destroyed.

Lazarus falls to his knees, his body releasing the corrupted magic now that it was cleansed and Tim remains.

Ladybug throws her water bottle Lucky Charm in the air, then, “ _ Miraculous Ladybug _ !”

* * *

A lovely of ladybugs, glowing a faint pink, envelops the dead bodies of Dick, Jason and Damian, and they start to breath.

When Bruce asks them what happened, they don’t-  _ can’t _ \- remember.

( _ Bruce does. He remembers finding his sons dead on the Cave’s cold floor. He remembers the lack of heartbeat, their cold skins. Their dead eyes. He remembers their corpses, and he will never forget. _ )

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo, I'm not sorry for this. 
> 
> Leve a comment on the way out!


	3. Into the light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of Tim's akumatization

Tim wakes up in a familial room. It’s not his, the walls pink and white instead of warm yellow, and the plush cat he’s gripping is like nothing he ever owned. He blinks his eyes open, feeling the start of a terrible headache.

“Are you okay? How do you feel?” Marinette asks, helping him seat up. She passes him a glass of water that he gratefully accepts, drinking it all.

“Headache,” Tim says slowly. He eyes the room, and while Marinette is the only one sitting by his bedside, he can hear their other friends talking and see Adrien’s head peek out from under the raised platform the bed is placed on. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Adrien waves, smiling lightly. His green eyes are soft, filled with relief at seeing him okay and awake.

His bangs fall in front of his eyes, then, a shock of white making Tim flinch. With obvious hesitation, Tim reaches for it, tugging at it to try and see it better, staring at it in a daze as if it would make the white disappear or turn back to the black of his natural hair.

The white bangs remain.

“We don’t know why,” Marinette blurts out. “Akumatized you also had a streak of white in his hair, but we don’t know why it transferred to actual you even after Ladybug purified you.”

Tim blinks. “Akumatized…?”

“Here, look,” Adrien says, pulling up a laptop. It opens on a professional-looking blog, the header being a photoshopped collage of various masked people with different animal themes, underneath the blog’s name in an elegant, yet simple, cursive. 

“Ladyblog,” Tim reads. “The blog about Paris’ Heroes.”

“Alya posted a few snippets of the fight,” Marinette says. “She’s one of the most reliable sources about Paris’ Heroes, even if she’s not a professional journalist, and for every akuma fight she also posts a recount of the fight, as well as information on the akuma themself.”

“Alya, as in, Alya Césaire? Our classmate?” Tim asks, a little baffled but not particularly surprised. He’s used to know amazing people, after all.

“Her,” Adrien confirms. “She had a bit of a fall a few years ago, but she recovered amazing and her blog is one, if not the most viewed of Paris when it comes to Team Miraculos!”

“Can you just tell me what’s going on?” Tim asks, scrolling through the various posts on the Ladyblog, dread pooling on his guts.

“You were akumatized,” Marinette says, gently. “We don’t know exactly when, but it was late at night. Maybe one. Team Miraculous went out at two, then no one saw anything else until about nine in the morning. You, uh, kind of kidnapped me? Took me to the Eiffel Tower, but you didn’t hurt me at all. We just talked for the most part, then Team Miraculous tracked you down and defeated you at ten-thirty.”

Tim hums, mostly to let her know he heard her. A ping lets him know the Ladyblog just posted something new. “Akuma review…?”

He clicks on it, the post taking a few seconds to pull up. Tim freezes.

Akuma name: Lazarus. Powers: plague orbs. Threat level: Critical. Number of victims-

The laptop snaps shut and two pairs of arms envelop him into a gentle hug.

* * *

Marinette and Adrien take turns explaining everything to Tim, from when it started- with Papillion and  _ Cœur de Pierre _ \- to the most important facts. The temporary heroes, Heroes’ Day with the first appearance of Mayura, Miracle Queen, the new Team, everything. Everything and anything Marinette and Adrien know as civilians, they tell Tim with no hesitation, repeating expanding what he asks them to.

By the end of it, Tim’s eyebrows are furrowed in thought. “But I remember.”

“What?”

Tim looks up, straight into Marinette’s grey eyes. “I remember what I did, or at least most of it. Papillon in my head, the feeling of creating the plague orbs, the whole fight- even when Ladybug purified the akuma and I was back to normal. I remember how it felt, how it feels. Is. Is it bad?”

Adrien and Marinette share a glance. “We don’t know,” she says at last. “Usually only willing people are able to remember. Or people with any amount of magic within them. A few of the heroes were akumatized while transformed, and they all could remember most, if not, of it after being purified.”

“Maybe you have some sort of magic? Like, not much, but enough it still was enough to make you remember?” Adrien tries.

Tim blinks, his mind flashing to a green glow, his body with no scars, screaming in his mind, white falling over his eyes and- Tim blinks again. “Maybe I do. But it wasn’t good magic.”

“It’s still magic,” Marinette points out. “And that’s enough.”

* * *

“Can you tell me more?” Tim asks, a few days later, during lunch break. His white streak is no longer present, having been dyed black right as Tim went back home after waking up in Marinette’s room.

“About what?” Adrien asks around some noodles.

Tim shrugs. “I scrolled through the Ladyblog, there were a few things that weren’t clear. Like the Threat Levels, for example. Or, well, they are clear but. Papillion? His threat level and the akuma he makes are based on the ‘terrorist’ scale. Low level threat for akuma like L’Invisible and Gigantitan. Moderate level threat for those like Mr. Pigeon and Le Mime. Substantial level threat for more physical akuma like Coeur de Pierre, Lady WiFi, Kung Food. Severe threat level for more… malicious akuma. For akuma that directly affect people, like Chronogirl, Anansi, La Marionnettiste, Ikari Gozen… most akumas are given a severe threat level. Then, there are the worst akumas. The critical level threats. Akuma that actually caused deaths. Syren, for example. Desperada. Climatika.  _ Me _ . Papillion himself is a critical threat. But there are some akuma that are in one level when they could very well be in another. And it’s just. Confusing.”

“The threat levels are mostly based on Team Miraculous’ ability to take them down,” Marinette starts explaining. “Like, Mr. Pigeon? He’s low level, but since Chat Noir is allergic to bird’s feathers, his threat level got upped to moderate. L'Invisible got moved down from moderate to low due to MiniMouse ability to always spot them, the last few times they appeared. Then, well, Team Miraculous sends out the threat level as soon as they encounter the akuma, and people can react accordingly. Max is working on an app to make the whole process easier, actually.”

Tim hums. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone.”

“We know,” Adrien says, eyes growing sad. “No one ever does.”

* * *

When the next akuma appears, Ladybug comes knocking on his window.

It’s a wednesday morning, barely sunrise, and almost all the Miraculous Team us out, fighting a demon-themed akuma with the power of ‘stealing’ people’s souls in order to empower themselves. Tim’s tv is running the news, where a blonde woman is narrating about the threat, a severe one.

He opens the window when she knocks, offering her the cookies he was eating.

“Thank you,” she says, barely out of breath, taking a cookie. “You’re Tim, right?”

Tim nods, trying not to show his surprise. “That’s me. Did you need anything…?”

“Sort of,” she says, straightening herself. She opens her yo-yo, pulling out a box and holding it out to Tim. “Tim Drakanov, this is the Miraculous of the Dragon, with the power of Perfection. Will you choose to aid me and my team in this battle and fight by our side?”

Tim stills, eyes widening. “I’m… what?”

“You can say no,” Ladybug assures. “If you don’t want to accept, then you don’t need to. I won’t force you, my team won’t try either. It’s your choice, and your choice alone.”

Tim takes the box, opening it. A golden light surges up, a small creature appearing.

“Greetings,” the creature says. “My name is Longg, the Dragon Kwami. Pleasure to meet you.”

Tim blinks. “Okay. This is weird.”

“I get that,” Ladybug snorts, eyes twinkling in amusement. “When I met my Kwami the first time I was really weirded out.”

Tim tilts his head, eyeing Longg. “How can I help?”

Long gives him a fanged smile. “Say the words ‘Longg, Bring the Storm’ to transform, ‘Open Skies’ to de-transform. Your power is either lightning, wind or water dragon. It will allow you to turn your body into one of said elements, but once your physical body reforms, you will only have five to seven minutes before you turn back into your civilian self.”

Tim nods, lifting the choker inside the box and hooking it around his neck. He takes a deep breath, eyes flashing toxic green only for a moment.

( _ Tim doesn’t notice Ladybug snapping her head to him, eyes blown wide in shock and horror. _ )

“ _ Longg _ ,” Tim whispers, “ _ Bring the Storm _ .”

* * *

There’s a reason Ra’s gave Bruce’s title of ‘Detective’ to _ him _ , Tim muses, laying on his couch.

He only needed one interaction to unravel it all.

One interaction in the form of a battle, an Team Miraculous now lays bare in front of him, stripped down to their civilian identities. It makes Tim want to laugh. Or cry. He hasn’t decided yet, even if both sound good.

The easiest one to pin had been Babi.

Babi who was Nino, who wore the Monkey Miraculous around his red cap making it look like the circlet itself was a part of the cap if not for the  _ feeling _ coming off of the metal.

Then it had been Adrien, with his puns and calling Marinette ‘Milady’ more than a few times, and Chat Noir calling Ladybug ‘Milady’ with the same soft tone, the same adoring eyes. Adrien is Chat Noir, the same way Marinette is Ladybug.

She had been a little harder to pin, mostly due to her hair and eyes turning shades of blue when transformed, in contrast to her grey eyes and black hair, but Ladybug was all _her_. The same confidence, same inner fire. The same kindness and empathy that makes Ladybug be _so_ _loved_ by all Paris.

Then, another look at Marinette and Adrien’s friend group, and realizing his new friends are also The Team Miraculous? Tim would feel bad for finding out, but to him it was history repeating itself.

( _ He unraveled Batman’s identity at age nine, and with him came his Robins. It was a mix of luck and common sense, with the curiosity of a child wanting to know that made him succeed where others failed. The Batman identity has never been found by anyone else, after all, and only Batman himself chooses who to tell, who to trust with that kind of information. _ )

It was history repeating itself if only for one particular:  _ Batman never chose Tim, Tim chose Batman _ . It was Tim who walked into Batman’s life, into being Robin. And even if in the end Bruce chose to let him  _ stay _ , to let him _ be _ a Wayne, Tim always had his doubts about  _ belonging _ .

Ladybug, however, chose Tim.  _ Marinette  _ chose Tim. To fight with her and her team, and  _ she gave him a choice _ .

And to Tim? That’s  _ important. _

* * *

It’s around Halloween- Adrien’s birthday- that Tim realizes neither Marinette nor her friends are trying to hide their hero identities from him. It makes him feel warm.

He also couldn’t stop smiling like an idiot when he did realize it, grateful for the privacy of his room since he looked so dumb, just staring at the wall for ten minutes straight like it were the best thing happening in his whole life.

It’s Adrien’s birthday when he decides to confront them, unwilling to keep it a secret more than he has to, especially since Ladybug came to ask if he was willing to be their temporary Dragon when they needed it. He said yes, of course, feeling almost incapable to refuse in front of Ladybug’s hopeful gaze.

But he digresses.

Adrien invited their classmates and some more kids from their school at his birthday party- something Marinette told him took a lot to organize, and even just convincing Mr Agreste to have a party had been a chore- with the theme being, unsurprisingly, Halloween.

They all have to dress in costume, though nothing ‘horror’ and still semi-formal as per Mr Agreste’s request, and they also have to show their invitation at Adrien’s bodyguard before being granted access to the Agreste mansion.

Tim chooses to pull a Jason and dress like he remembered he was dressed when Joker tried to palms him into Joker Junior. A sleek, purple suit, a yellow vest and green bowtie, with elegant shoes at his feet accented in the same yellow as the vest. He dyed his hair green the day prior with Juleka and Luka’s help, and now he has it slicked back and a little curled at the ends.

He also wears full face make-up, white on his face, lips painted dark red and on his eyelids he attempted a smokey-eye and eyeliner, succeeding on the third try at doing a good job.

Arriving at the mansion, Tim spots Mr Agreste by the bodyguard's side, giving judging looks to all of the guests as they enter. Tim flashes them his own invite, waiting patiently to be allowed in.

Mr. Agreste looks at him with raised eyebrows. “Who might you be?”

“Tim Drakanov,” Tim says. 

“What are you dressed as?” Mr. Agreste asks, looking him up and down.

“As The Joker, Mr Agreste. A Gotham Villain.”

“You are from Gotham?” Mr Agreste sounds both impressed and disgusted.

“I am. Was,” Tim confirms. “I moved there along with my parents when I was still very young, until a few months ago when I came here to Paris.”

Mr Agreste manages to raise his eyebrows even higher. “What about your parents, then? What do they do? I’m afraid Adrien has yet to mention you to me.”

“There were archaeologists and historians,” Tim says, waving a hand. “They also created Drake Industries, a company that used to operate in many fields, even if after their deaths it unfortunately got quite small, even if there are still archaeological expeditions in their names.”

“... my condolences,” Mr Agreste says after a few moments, his face smoothed over. “You may come in.”

“ _ Merci _ , Mr Agreste.”

* * *

Tim spots Marinette first. She’s dressed as Mulan, in the pink-red-blue outfit from near the end of the movie, and she obviously made it herself. It’s easy to tell from how it fits perfectly, how the three colours are in the shades that fit better with her complexion, how it’s strikingly accurate with the chinese culture of the era Mulan is narrated.

At her side it’s Chloè, dressed as Cinderella in a silvery, ice-blue gown, also a Marinette original, and Nino, dressed as Naveen from Princess and the Frog.

He spots Juleka and Luka at one of the refreshment tables, with her dressed as Morticia Addams- the close fitting black dress and black roses in her hair are quite telling- and him as a rather convincing Flynn Ryder.

Then there are Alix, Max and Kim. 

Alix is obviously dressed as the human version of the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, with a vest, shirt and suit pants all in black and brown and red accents, and from her top had sprout white, rabbit ears, matching the fluffy tail anchored to her belt on the back.

Kim is a very convincing post-curse-breaking Beast, with a tailored twin tailed jacked and a ruffled shirt and black pants and boots, with his hair tied in a short, low tail and a red rose tucked into his jacket’s breast pocket.

Max used a specific spry to dye his hair white and dressed as the male version of Princess Allura from the Voltron’s serie, his current outfit far from his usual choice of wear but from the way Kim eyes him, it’s a job well done.

All of their outfits were made by Marinette, Tim concludes, spotting her ‘MDC’ signature. Where she found the time, he didn't know and he honestly doesn’t even want to.

“Hi Tim!” Marinette greets, smiling brightly.

Tim waves. “Hello! Where’s Adrien?”

“He’s finishing changing,” Marinette says. “He texted me about five minutes ago saying he was fixing the last bits of his outfit, so he should be here soon.”

Tim nods, falling into easy conversation with her and their friend group as they all come together, and then Adrien is also with them, chatting animatedly and so seamlessly that Tim does a double-take when he first spots him, dressed as _ Rapunzel _ of all characters, with a lilac suit with the same kind of patterns and embroidery Rapunzel had in the most recent movie, complete with a flower crown in his blond hair.

Tim… Tim doesn’t think about heroes and secret identities for the whole night, he doesn't have the time with how much fun he has goofing around with his friends, with how light he feels.

He simply focuses on his friend and on how easy everything is.

* * *

Tim tells Marinette the morning after.

Their group is out for breakfast, sitting in a cat cafè that recently opened and almost everyone has a cat or two in their lap, petting them or simply sitting in a bliss.

“I know about the mask,” Tim says casually, around a bite of his pastry. It’s not as good as the Dupain-Cheng’s, but it’s good nonetheless.

Marinette, however, doesn’t take it as casually, almost choking on her cappuccino. Once she recovers she turns to him, a silent yet urgent question in her eyes.

Tim points to his earlobes. “Spots.”

Marinette sighs. “Of course you found out.”

“I didn’t really _mean_ to," Tim says around a grimace.

“It’s okay, Tim. We were planning on telling you, either way, so you just saved us the time of finding out how to properly tell you.”

“Does this mean now he can be our Dragon?” Adrien asks, catching the others attention.

Chloè raises her eyebrows. “So Tim found out?” Marinette nods, and Chloè turns to Tim. “Good job.”

“Is he going to be the permanent Dragon?” Kagami asks, parroting Adrien.

“Only if he wants to,” Marinette says, still looking at Tim. “You can become a permanent member of the team and keep your Miraculous full time, or we can do as we’ve been doing until now.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier for you if I have it full time?”

“It would,” Marinette admits. “But I gave everyone this same choice, so it wouldn’t be fair to you if I just did what is more convenient for me and not think about your wishes.”

“I’m fine with having the Miraculous full time,” Tim decides, wringing his hands. “But first, let me tell you about Gotham. About Batman and his Robins. And about Red Robin.”

They all straighten up, the easy air turning serious, as Tim narrates his life to the ten of them. A life of hardships and losses and survival.

( _ Tim never felt so  _ **_free_ ** .)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is the end of part 5.
> 
> Tim is, officially, a permanent member of Team Miraculous and he laid down everything that happened to him while in Gotham and as a part of the Batfam.
> 
> Next addition to Hydra AU will be probably a one-shot revolving around the Bats and their reactions to Tim being gone OR about Ra's. Dunno, I have yet to decide.

**Author's Note:**

> I lied. I'm not sorry.
> 
> Leave out a comment on the way out! Thank you for reading!


End file.
